Electrostatic induction (can someone check my answer?)

[leena19]

Homework Statement

Three identical metal spheres are supported on three insulating stands.A charge q is given on the first sphere .The first sphere is then momentarily touched with the second sphere and then the second sphere is momentarily touched with the third.
Finally the third sphere is momentarily touched with the first again.
The final amounts of charge residing on the first,second and the third spheres respectively are...?

Homework Equations

The Attempt at a Solution

I think in the first case,
when the 1st sphere touches the 2nd,a charge of q/2 passes on to sphere 2 and a charge of q/2 remains on sphere 1
Then when sphere 2 touches sphere 3,a charge of q/4 moves to sphere3 and q/4 remains on sphere 1,
And when,sphere 3 touches sphere 1 again,the total charge is now q/2 + q/8 i.e 3q/4,
so sphere 1 and sphere 3 now have a charge of 3q/8 each ?

Thanks in advance !

 

[kuruman]

Looks OK to me.

 

[tomcue]

Your attempt at a solution seems to be correct. This process is known as electrostatic induction, where the charges redistribute themselves due to the influence of an external charge. In this case, the first sphere initially had a charge of q, but after touching the other spheres, it ends up with a charge of 3q/8, while the other two spheres have charges of q/8 each. This demonstrates the principle of conservation of charge, as the total charge remains the same throughout the process. Additionally, this also shows that charges can be induced on objects without direct contact, which is a key concept in electrostatics. Overall, your understanding and explanation of the process seems to be accurate.